A Debt to be Repaid
by usuk1776
Summary: Ethan feels guilty for tricking Benji into going to Vienna, so what better a way to repay him?
1. Chapter 1

It was a nice Friday for Ethan, no clouds, little drama, and the Syndicate gone. He woke up, put on his normal person clothes, made his normal person coffee, sat down in his normal person chair, and opened his ten thousand dollar laptop to scan the price of two tickets to the classiest opera in Western Europe; everyday stuff.

The tickets were near enough to affordable with what the government paid him for each impossible mission, and this time with taking out an entire terrorist organization, they gave him a little extra. What also came with the end of the Syndicate was a nagging feeling of guilt, but for the oddest of things.

He felt guilty for tricking Benji into thinking he had won opera tickets just to get him to Vienna, and he wanted to make up for that with an actual trip to an opera house, no matter the price. He sighed to himself and pressed on the fancy "Buy Tickets" button in the lower corner of the website and made the outrageous purchase, all while looking forlornly at his poor debit card.

Normally, in this type of society, it would be very out of the ordinary for a man to spend thousands of dollars just to make another man feel better. But this was Ethan Hunt, and he was absolutely repulsed by the idea of disappointing the man he was infatuated with, so it would be done or people would get hurt.

As the phone felt his touch and recognized his fingerprints, it unlocked and sent him straight to the keypad. He typed in Benji's phone number, pressed 'call' and held it up to his ear. It rang just the number of times for Ethan to begin to get worried before he heard fumbling and rustling and finally the Brit's voice, sounding like he had just woken up.

"Ethan, it's 7 in the morning on a Saturday-"

"It's Friday, Benji."

"The fuck do you mean it's Friday!?" He yelled. "My alarm, my phone-"

"Is set back a day since you just flew around the world." There was a moment of silence before-

"Well, what do you need!?" Ethan could hear his friend scrambling to get up.

"We can talk about it when we get to work, you're busy."

"Bu-"

But Ethan had already hung up and went to gather his things for work.

As he got to work, he stepped out of his modest BMW and looked around before heading to the glass doors, but as he held his hand for the door, another hand reached over and stopped him. He turned to look, and who else could it have been but Benji, who gave him a sweet smile as he pulled open the door for his coworker.

Ethan was, of course, in complete control over his emotions as he fumbled his words trying to say thanks, but just ended up opening his mouth and closing it again. Today of all days Benji had to be wearing that damn bright red denim jacket that made him look more flattering than should be legally acceptable. The jacket was paired along with Flashy blue skinny jeans and a stripped t-shirt.

"Ethan, you're doing that thing again." He blinked a few times and suddenly realized he had been staring at him that entire time.

"What do you mean 'that thing'" Ethan managed to get out as he tried to hide the awkward feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"You know, the thing where you stare at me for a good thirty seconds without saying anything and I just sort of look expectantly at you." He again gestured towards the door, pointing out that they were still standing outside. Ethan looked down at his feet and rushed indoors to avoid further conversation. But Benji, being who he was, ran to catch up behind him and began to talk further.

"So…what was that call about this morning? Thanks for waking me up, by the way." They walked into the IMF offices to meet with their peers. Luther was standing at Brandt's desk, chatting with him and laughing as they walked by.

"I was sort of hoping that we could talk about it in private rather than in front of them two."

"Talk about what in private?" Brandt and Luther were now looking at them both.

"None of your business, Brandt." Ethan replied in a light-hearted but harsh tone.

"Every word that is spoken in this building is 'our business' Ethan, so cut it, now what were you two on about?" He raised his eyebrow and smiled, knowing that it would piss off Ethan to no end.

"I was just going to tell Benji that…" He tried to think of something, anything, but his mind was as blank as drawing paper. So he said the truth. "I bought us tickets to an opera in Vienna." Now both of William's eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Well then keep your secrets, but don't bullshit me so bad." He shook his head and started back up the conversation he had left off with Luther, leaving the two others in the room feeling awkward.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Benji leant over and asked, leading them both over to his desk to further the conversation in privacy. He sat down at his desk and spun his chair to look up at Ethan.

"…I was being serious." Benji furrowed his brow at that.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I actually bought us tickets to the best opera in Europe, as an apology for tricking you last time." For a second Benji was speechless, his mouth open in surprise. He launched from his chair, grabbed Ethan by the shirtsleeve, and dragged him to the conference room.

"If you're joking with me Ethan Hunt, I will butcher you." They stopped in front of the whiteboard at the end of the room.

"I'm not joking with you, Benji, I needed to say I was sorry, I was being selfish and you had your hopes up." Now after Ethan had said this, Benji looked to Ethan in a way that made him think that he had fucked up. It was sort of a mixture of confusion and anger and…admiration? No, Ethan was just seeing things.

"Ethan can I tell you something?" Benji finally said after the long silence.

"I guess, yeah." He prepared for impact.

"You're a fucking lunatic, Ethan Hunt, I love you so much." Benji grabbed the front of Ethan's shirt and pulled him forward into a kiss. And he was in such shock that he froze for a solid five seconds before he gave in, holding the younger man's face in his hands. The moment was so perfect he wished it would never en-

"Ahem"

They froze, and after a second they backed away from each other quickly, looking to see who had interrupted their…activities.

Brandt, of course.

"So…what's going on here?" He smiled jokingly, obviously amused by what he had just walked in on.

"Um…" Both he and Benji were both silenced in embarrassment as William continued to stare at them and smirk.

"I mean, I already knew this was what was going to happen eventually, but why did it take so long?" He laughed. Benji's face turned redder than it naturally was at this comment. 'Was it really that obvious?' He thought.

But the moment passed, and it then became more and more exciting when he began to realize that his feelings didn't go unrequited, and as he went home that day, he turned into a love-struck high school girl.


	2. Chapter 2

They got off Ethan's private jet and stepped onto the rich soil of Europe, already seeing the city lights in the distance. Benji almost squealed in excitement when he finally realized: He was actually going to an opera! A proper, expensive, European opera! And with the man he had crushed on for years. He looked over to said crush and smiled, taking his hand and leaning up to give a kiss on the cheek. The normally brutish, manly man, almost-just almost-blushed at this display of affection.

They took a cab to the hotel (only the best of the best in Austria) and they just couldn't keep their hands off of each other. And when they got there, that was a completely different story.

Benji practically ripped Ethan's clothes when they stepped through the door, tossing his shirt and trousers off to nowhere. They made out on the bed for a good half hour before they broke apart.

"We-"Ethan went back to kissing his neck, but Benji calmly pushed him back. "We need to get ready, Ethan." He got up, looking at his bruised neck in the mirror. "Damn…well this was never a problem I've had to deal with before. New experiences, every day, the Ethan Hunt life!" He said sarcastically, turning to look at Ethan and grinning.

8:00 Vienna Opera House

The both of them were both very well dressed, suit and tie, then again if they weren't, they wouldn't be let in in the first place, so they brought their best. Benji gripped onto Ethan's jacket sleeve as he was finally able to admire Vienna as a city, not a mission, and it was so much more beautiful. At night the bright lights shone on the wet concrete, giving them a perfect reflection and a wonderful chance to take photos, but they weren't tourists, it would be cheesy and rude to take a picture.

But as Benji looked to his partner, he noticed that Ethan didn't have the same sparkle in his eye that he loved to see, that shine that made him smile when he was in the heat of the moment, and he began to worry. 'Did I do something wrong?' He looked down to his clothes. 'No, nothing out of place…' He nudged his elbow a little.

"Is something wrong, darling?" He asked, but his voice was drowned in the crowd, so he stayed quiet and decided it would pass. 'Maybe he's self-conscious about me being on his arm? No, being gay was acceptable in Austria, so that couldn't have been it.'

The hallways were pristine, Benji noticed, as they walked to their coat check closet, but still the problem bothered him with Ethan, what could've been wrong? They found the small room and double checked their number before going in. 'I am not a child, I shouldn't be laughing at a stupid number.' He thought as he looked at the plaque and read it '420'. He still smiled to himself.

As the door closed behind him, Benji found himself being pushed against a wall and kissed. At first he was startled, but soon realized his situation and reached up to run his fingers through Ethan's hair.

"Why were you acting like that? All serious-faced, I mean." He breathed between kisses.

"I was so nervous, there could've been a bomber, or an assassin or-"Benji put his index finger up to shush his partner.

"I'm still here, aren't I? Nothing's going to happen, dear. Besides, I can defend myself." Ethan stared blankly at him.

"A month ago you had a bomb strapped to your chest that could've blown up all of London, can I be a little worried at least?" The blonde began to laugh and shake his head, beginning to take his suit jacket off and put it on the coat rack.

"Go ahead, and while you worry your pretty little ass off, I'm going to enjoy a beautiful opera and have some fine rose wine." He finished with a huff and began to dramatically walk out of the door opposite of the one they entered, he heard behind him a disappointed grunt that was easily discernable from any other. A smirk grew on his lips as he rolled up his sleeves and looked down at the red velvet curtain blocking the stage as they set up the beautiful beginning scene. The door clicked open and closed quickly and Benji glanced behind him, seeing the beautiful person that was Ethan Hunt.

His sleeves were rolled up, making his outfit go from a 5 to a 10 in .01 seconds. He was still wearing his tie, but it was obviously loosened, making him go from a 10 to a 6,000, but maybe it was the lust exaggerating it. But who cared? He certainly he didn't… and to top this whole beautiful scene, his hair was slightly messed up, and Benji blushed as he realized he was the cause of it being practically ruined.

"I…" He was at a loss for words as Ethan walked forward, sitting to Benji's right on their personal corner of the opera. Ethan caught him staring and smirked, placing his hand on the inner side of his partner's upper thigh, making him jump for a moment. Then he moved his hand upwards, and upwards still until-

"I would like to welcome you to the Vienna State Opera, or in German, the Weiner Staatsoper!" Ethan lurched forward in his seat, attempting not to laugh at the odd name. Benji didn't try in the first place, and he was already doubled over, trying to laugh as quietly as possible.

"Goddamnit, we're professionals Ethan, we can't be laughing at this!" He whisper-laughed. Eventually they managed to feign seriousness, but it was a difficult task.

"Today, we are presenting-" He paused. "The Tempest!" There was a loud clap that roared through the seats as the announcer began to open the curtains, and the performers appeared, ready to begin act one, but honestly, the two IMF agents couldn't have cared less, because they were staring into each other's eyes as the light shone on the stage and spread to their corner.

"Jesus, Benji, you're beautiful…" Ethan whispered as Prospero and Miranda said their first lines of dialogue.

"Look who's talking, the guy that people assume is a womanizer, turns out to be bisexual." Benji grabbed Ethan's hand and pulled it up just far enough to touch his crotch. In that second, something in the Brit's eyes changed from starry to lustful, and Ethan loved it.

"Coat check closet?" Ethan asked.

"Coat check closet."


End file.
